Sacred Trees Chapter 16
by ajj7sunhawk
Summary: I have no ide awhy Chapter 19 is not posting. O can see it on live preview but not on the actual page. Trying this consider it a test.


Hi, Ok lots of reviewers to thank cause I haven't done that in a while. Hope you don't mind, if I kindda summarize most of the thanks. Thanks for all the guesses everyone I really appreciate the fact that everyone is interested enough to do so.

Leirative : On history, actually I found that kindda fun. Mainly cause it was a challenge to make the history in my fic, and real history blend so it made sense. I just have a weird brain. :)

Nikkie23534 : Thanks for pointing out the repeat, I hadn't realized it.

Princess Sin : I hope I made all the racking of brains worth it? Thanks

Ashlan : Thanks for both, you get high ratings as a reviewer too.

Domi: lol well is this any better?

Ladykaa28 : Thanks for the support

Kazuyo : I always look forward to reading your reviews. Sesshoumaru has 500 years to practice being corrupted. Lol. Ya Inuyasha is adorable. *grin on the guesses please read.. and being evil is so much FUUUNNNNN.

Kmoaton : Thank you and thank you. Good to know if you guessed right?

Bibi11 : Inuyasha's ears... are too cute. And as I you are the only one who caugh t Sesshy's rather active fantasy lofe. Lol. In the future will be able to make good... well... we will see.

Ladytokyo : hope you enjoyed.

ShiroiYuki : Glad you are enjoying it. Meh on Kagome she is the real bipolar one. You tube has a collection of all the sits from one season, and seriously I couldn't stand to watch the whole thing. Pure abuse.

JuniperBreezie : Thanks

ShoadowWolf03 : Grats. :)

FROSTQUEEN70 : I have every intention of finishing. Lol.. well as long as ppl are reviewing that os. *evil grin.

All the others who I have missed out on Thank you.

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Dionne and Sesshoumaru : Dionne is actually the only demon (so far) there who has a good chance in single combat against Sesshoumaru. The trees place Inuyasha above Dionne, cause they have known him longer and they know he will defend Inuyasha. He is not seriously after Inuyasha anymore, and Inuyasha never saw him as a candidate. He and Sesshoumaru however will probably be bickering and posturing until the end of time, cause they are equals, and Alphas. So they are just doing the alpha male posturing thing.

Now Enjoy, Read REVIEW!!!

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Chapter 18 : Unmasking!!

The Tiger Demoness, the Dragon Demon, the Dragon Demon WeaponMaker, the Monkey Demon, the Lightning Demon and the Dog Demon looked at each other. The tension between the 6 was palatable. The WeaponMaker Demon had gone paler and paler as no one had seen fit to remove him from the list of suspects. Some of the weaponry did seem to carry a flavour that was like his own and the dragon's eyes were wide in fear. He didn't make a sound, to try and say he was innocent would only draw attention to himself, so he stood silent; his nervousness and anxiety beginning to show through.

"Lord Tetzusemon, you seem rather nervous. Could it be because your expert handy-work is evident in some of these items?" The Tiger Demoness Lord Hisana almost purred.

"Traveling around, setting up 'workshops' dealing in weapons, you do have an ideal set-up to be the betrayer." The Monkey Lord Iemura growled out.

"As a weapon maker you do have access to almost all demon tribes, do you not. Lord Tetzusemon? Did you arrange for your masters death to get his position? You have always been a rather cowardly dragon." The Dragon Lord Tatsukiinoue, sneered at the shocked and shaking demon.

"No, no, no, I could have never hurt Totosai, he was my beloved master." The dragon whimpered out. "I don't have an army like the rest of you, I can't be the traitor."

"So! You could be building an army in secret a legion in each location of your workshops." Lord Sunshi of the Lightning spat out. The targeted demon looked at Sesshoumaru almost pleadingly "Lord .. Shogun.."

"Lord Tetzusemon, I suggest you answer these accusations, I may not believe you are the actual traitor, but that you are in league with the traitor is highly possible. There has always been a strange scent about you." The Shogun responded in his normal cool attitude.

"NO! I am loyal to Youkai, I work to make weapons for all of you impartially as My Master Totosai taught. I am not in league with anyone, please I cant explain this, please believe me. I am just protecting my people. I would never betray you,." The Dragon was almost crying, and the Tatsukiinoue looked in disgust.

"No dragon behaves like this. Maybe he is controlled and doesn't know he is the traitor." The Dragon lord not bothering to hide his dislike for the Weapon Maker who he always thought disgraced dragons spat out.

5 Lords eyes looked assessing at the now cowering weapon maker.

"That's enough!" A low growl accompanied the order. Inuyasha leaped down placing himself in front of the Weapon maker and the rest of the Lords. "The Weapon Maker is not your traitor, he does not have it in him. Take this hunt elsewhere." Inuyasha arms outstretched protected the Demon.

"Inuyasha, GET AWAY FROM HIM NOW!!" Sesshoumaru growled. "He may be out to kill you and you turn you back on him! You are being foolish!" Both Kouga and Shippo, began circling to pounce on the Demon Lord from the back if need be.

"Keh, you lot are really blind. My Sempai is not going to kill me." Inuyasha said with casual arrogance.

Inuyasha grinned at the shocked reaction.

The Dragon Demon choked and looked almost wide eyed at the Hanyou. "Brother Inuyasha, Kohaii you remembered!" Tears collected in the eyes that seemed to be expanding larger each second.

"Course I remember. You can hide from my eyes Sempai, but not from my other senses. Now get rid of that disguise, you are no Dragon, and the farce is only making you look suspicious."

"It was Totosai's idea, people are less likely to kidnap a dragon. He made this for me, it is the last thing he made before he died." The Weapon Maker said as he fumbled with his heavy belt and chest plate. The two slowly began to come off.

"Inuyasha. Explain!" The Shogun's voice was harsh.

"Sheesh, no need to get all pushy about it. When I went to Totosai to get training on using the Tessaiga to break barriers, another student was already there, so he became my Sempai. Simple ne? Council members, it is my pleasure to introduce you to Bunza, Prince of the Lynx Demons." Inuyasha smirked looking fondly at the Lynx Demon, no longer posing in the tall, muscular form of a Dragon demon. The Lynx was a few inches taller then Shippo and was built around heavy and muscular lines. A furry clawed hand grasped on to the back of Inuyasha's coat.

Comprehension dawned on the Council members. The Weapon Masters un-draconic attitude had been the main reason why they had found it hard to trust him. Somehow seeing that it was a clever ruse made them respect the weapon maker's bravery.

"You have tricked us all along! How is this supposed to make us believe you are innocent?" Lord Iemura growled taking offense at being conned.

Now knowing that he had someone on his side, the Lynx gained a little courage. His hand clutching the cloth of Inuyasha's coat for support, the Lynx Prince faced his Council members. "My people were one of the first disseminated by the Foreign attacks and the Secret Wars. There were not families left, just a handful of individuals. We had no where to turn. We went to Totosai –sama, and he found shelter for us and a gave us training. We kept a very low profile, it is unthinkable to put my clan in more danger, by advertising our presence. But when Totosai was going to leave this plane of existence, he asked me to take his, place, there was no one else- I could not refuse. Being a Youkai weapon maker is dangerous, too many would seek to control our actions. To make sure the Lynx was not threatened to force me to work for some people, Totosai created this special armour for me made from Chameleon, Dragon and Lynx bones and magic. There is only one of its kind in the World, and Totosai took the secret of its crafting to his grave. It hides my Lynx heritage but not my personal scent, which is why my wonderful Kohaii could recognize me. " Bunza beamed at Inuyasha, earning himself a growl from all the Canines in the room.

"Why choose a Dragon form?" Lord Hisana asked a little insulted that a feline would act like a dragon, however it seemed to insult the stuffy Dragon Lord more, and the Tigress decided not to make too much an issue about it.

"Actually I wanted to be like my Kohaii, a Dog Demon," Growls of anger greeted that statement, Sesshoumaru just glared and Inuyasha looked amused. Cats pretending to be dogs would NOT have been taken well.

Bunza shrugged at the reaction.

"Totosai-sama said that would be your reaction. A cat was too close to the truth, so the Dragon the other brave, strong and powerful creature became the choice for my disguise. " The Lynx straightened up. "My Lords, I will do anything to keep my people safe, even fool all of you. I also wanted to make the world better for demons, so I have always served you to the best of my ability, which as you all will admit is pretty substantial. I am not a traitor, but I put myself in a position where I am an easy suspect, I ask your forgiveness and would be happy to resign from the council." The last statement was said almost hopefully, NO sane person enjoyed council meetings

"No Lord Bunza, I do believe that you are going to maintain your place on the Council." Lady Shiba said from outside the barrier, she was extremely amused by this. "In fact, I think a suitable punishment for your errr.. deception .. that under the circumstances seems reasonable, is to make you the Convenor of the Council meetings for say the next 200 years." The Lady smirked, convenors got all the headache of organizing Council meetings, setting agendas and the like, it was a position that was or had been rotated and was hated by members. Bunza winched.

"Hmn, since you have cleared up the confusing messages that our senses pick up from you, you are no longer a suspect to me." The Shogun said, "Step out Lord Bunza."

"Yes, he is not a suspect. There are some matters to clear but Lynx Demons are very territorial and they would not sup with foreign Youkai against their own." The Tigress said in agreement.

With two endorsements Bunza jumped out before protests could be raised. Immediately Kouga and Shippo each grabbed one of Inuyasha's arms and marched the Hanyou back to a position between them and Dionne where he would be better protected. Inuyasha's spluttering and highly acidic tirade broke the tension in the room. The Youkai watched the puppy curse and promise vengeance with amusement. He was damn cute!

Sesshoumaru glared quite uselessly at everyone, as they stared appreciatively at the beautiful Hanyou.

"That was a needed intermission, we were almost at each other's throats." Lord Tatsukiinoue said, "However we need to return to the matter at hand.. who is the traitor? We now have 5 viable candidates, and I will include myself as it falls to others to remove me from the list."

"Oh for fucks sake!" Lord Sunshi spat out. "Let us not be stupid, if the traitor was the Shogun we would all be kneeling before him by now. He would be ruling all of us and not just the Canines, I for one am honest enough to admit that. Not to mention, he saved the hot Hanyou, which is totally counterproductive if he was the traitor." No one disputed it, and the Shogun stayed inside the barrier, as he intended to face the traitor.

"Fine!" Lord Tatsukiinoue almost sulked, he had been enjoying the drama. "In that case Lord Hisana step out as well, while you are dangerous enough to do the acts that is required of the traitor, you are a Tigress of honour. It would be a bad joke to let this devolve into a fight between cats and dogs, so before someone can make those useless accusations step out and spare us that farce." The dragon flatly.

"You need a better reason then that, just because you like women doesn't mean that they are not the traitor." Lord Iemaru protested.

"Bah, if you haven't noticed the Felis are not into magical and weapon technology. The traitors have not been able to destabilize Youkai holdings and wealth. With the financial wizardry of the Felines, do you not think the traitor would not have used that as a weapon to cause a war? No the Felines are innocent simply because they have taken care of the financials of the Youkai with transparency and brilliance."

"Why thank you Lord Dragon, by the way, before I step out and leave the posturing to the males, I must say this has been rather fun, call me if you survive." The Tigress nodded a sashayed out of the circle.

"So what now? We all have the resources, armies, strength and ability to be the traitor. How are we going to eliminate each other or should we have a fight, without the Shogun of course, and the last one left standing is Not the traitor." Lord Sunshi said his hand on his axe.

"Bah that is hardly effective, I'd win against the two of you, and while I am not the traitor, there would still be suspicion attached to me." Lord Tatsukiinoue said flatly, "After all I am the most likely candidate here to be the traitor. I have the wealth, holdings and technology for it, but the thing is I am NOT the traitor. I want the Youkai to be stronger then humans, more then the rest of you. So what is my motive? No we have to find the traitor and find out why."

"Just because you say you are NOT the traitor, does not mean that you aren't." Lord Imeura pointed out. "What proof can you offer that you are not guilty."

The slight red brown skinned Dragon Lord smirked, "I can offer none." He said simply, if his word was not enough in the circumstances, than battle was unavoidable. If they fought the Youkai Council would disintegrate.

"Enough, at this level it is not about saying who is innocent, rather it is proving who is guilty. Baseless accusations will get us no where and the council is doomed." Sunshi pointed out.

"True." The Shogun finally said, "We need to know the traitor because we need to know why this was done, and we need to know the face of our enemy that has been hidden for over 400 years." The four Lords stood in the middle facing each other, their Generals, Dionne and Inuyasha made a wider circle around them.

The Lords lapsed into silence as they considered each other.

"Keh! Sesshoumaru, get on with it already. Or have you just been investigating your ass in the last 300 years." Inuyasha said finally, his brother liked to draw things out sometimes but this was getting ridiculous.

Sesshoumaru cast a quelling glance at the smirking Hanyou. Others cowered when the Shogun cast his dominating aura at them, his little brother however just gave him a bored look, totally unimpressed. Damn, Inuyasha was going to demolish his hard earned reputation. The Shogun sighed inwardly, then he turned back to the three Lords.

"Yes all three of you have nothing that excludes you as suspects. However the only reason this whole matter was carried out in this manner, was because of Lord Tatzesemon, or Lord Bunza. His little charade complicated matters. This Sesshoumaru was uncertain because if he was an active ally of the traitor then any of you would be suspect. However he is eliminated as a suspect, the identity of the traitor is actually quite clear." Sesshoumaru said his voice soft but carrying throughout the council room. All were silent as they waited for the judgment.

_((a/n : **grin Now if I was truly evil, Id stop here, but this matter has been dragged on long enough and I thank everyone for their votes. I MUST commend **ShadowWolf03** from aff , was the only one who made a correct unambiguous guess, way back when I first asked you to guess** ))_

"From what we know the traitor has been active for hundreds of years, so events in history must be considered as well as recent events. Firstly the traitor knows us rather well, has a good comprehension of the skills of various Youkai. This has allowed the traitor to strike at the weak spots in the clans. Second the traitor worked against us during the Ningen War, and actually helped identify sites to be bombed and attacker. Thirdly and this is important, for some reason Youkai are less on guard around the Traitor.

"Furthermore while the plate is something that none of us can really identify as yet,from the weaponry left behind there was a definite sense of familiarity about it because the base of the work was similar to work done by Lord Bunza. So that meant that either Lord Bunza was directly involved or that someone had access to Lord Bunza's blueprints and planning work." The Shogun said. While Kouga had done most of the work, because it was addressing Lords, Sesshoumaru himself had to explain.

"What! Impossible the Weapon workshops have security that even I could not breech, with alerting half the Youkai world." Lord Tatsukiinoue said unashamed of having tried a number of times.

"True, so that means that at some point the traitor had access to Lord Bunza' work. And that clarifies who the traitor is, does it not, Lord Kira Iemura." Sesshoumaru finished looking at the monkey Lord almost casually.

"Me! What! No way I'm just involved in games, toys, entertainment. I am not into weaponry." The monkey spluttered.

"Do you really think our memory is so short? Nagasaki." The shogun said looking at the monkey, the others were silent, waiting for all the proof to be unveiled.

"But, doesn't that prove I am not the traitor, I mean, my holdings and wealth and facilities were destroyed in the bombing. Hell I lost my wife and some of my children. If I had know where the bombs would fall, would I have allowed that." The monkey growled.

"Yes, you would. Power before anything else. Chimpanzees are after all known the be cannibals and will slaughter their own. Further your main heirs survived, so did most of your supporters. General Kouga discovered that most of your clan that was wiped out by the atomic bomb just happened to be members that wanted a change of leadership." Sesshoumaru said coldly, the other Lords fanned out away from the Monkey demon. Pieces of the puzzle finally coming together.

"You did research with the humans in Nagasaki on weaponry. You pressed Lord Bunza into your service – that is how you have the base plans for his designs. And because the council had decided that all weapon design of the period was to be shared, you destroyed the facility. I remember how disgustingly remorseful you were for not being able to 'share'." The Dragon Lord said.

"Yes, the entertainment industry does tend to relax out guard does it not? Also all the material you collect for your games and to develop skills training programs... very clever Monkey." Lord Sunshi spat out.

The Monkey Lord Kira Iemura glared daggers at the Lords, then he grinned slowly, his mask falling aside revealing a smug look. One of his generals whistled. Above their heads a hole appeared in the barrier and shadows fell from the high ceilings, the earth beneath their feet erupted. Elite Assassins filled the barrier area, each poison coated weapon was aimed at the biggest threat to the Monkey Lord's Masters' plan, the Sacred tree healing Hanyou.

** tbc

Ta daa... the traitor is revealed, are you satisfied with the plot? Is it good? Please tell.

Oh On Lord Bunza, I have actually only recently seen that episode, and I went wow.. that fits. *grin whatcha think did I manage to surprise you? Too many of you were guessing him, so of course I had to pull a fast one. *whistles innocently.

And in the end how many of you guessed right please tell.


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